Visit Milwaukee’s president and CEO Peggy Williams-Smith quipped that her initial reaction to Donald Trump reportedly calling Milwaukee a “horrible city” was “oh, shit,” but added “the amount of press that was generated from him saying that was amazing.”
“We had people all over the country, Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, we had our county exec and our mayor on every national news outlet talking about how great Milwaukee is,” she told a WisPolitics-Milwaukee Press Club luncheon in Milwaukee yesterday. “And I think that that just shows that you don’t mess with us.”
Trump’s campaign initially said the comment was about crime and elections in the city, but Trump later denied saying it.
Williams-Smith also responded to negative feelings about Milwaukee among some Wisconsin residents, affirming her desire to focus on good things happening in the city.
“We’re always going to have haters; this is the way of the world right now,” said Williams-Smith. “I think as long as we continue to tell the good, then we’ll start to see some of those perceptions change.”
She said she is hopeful that next month’s Republican National Convention will change negative perceptions, thanks to the $200 million the convention is estimated to generate. Organizers and the U.S. Secret Service last week announced the final RNC security zone, and businesses located within or nearby are feeling a mix of excitement and worry about how the convention will impact their operations, according to Wisconsin Restaurant Association President and CEO Kristine Hillmer.
The positive business and money-making potential of the RNC is likely to encourage other conventions to make their way to Milwaukee, Williams-Smith argued. She touted major conventions, such as Expo! Expo! and VFW, coming to Milwaukee in the next few years. Additionally, she revealed that in August the city will announce a major event that would not have come to Milwaukee if not for the RNC.
She also acknowledged that Milwaukee still has room for growth. While hotel occupancy is not currently a concern, a lack of hotel space within walking distance of convention centers is one of the biggest challenges currently facing Milwaukee in terms of convention business growth.
She singled out having a large Marriott hotel would be a boost for convention business, as Marriott is the second-largest hotel brand globally, with the largest reservation system and national sales force.
“Although we have a lot of Marriott product, it’s not one big Marriott Hotel,” she said. “So we miss out on some of those groups that may choose to go through a national sales office.”
She also said there is room for another convention center hotel in the city, but added such a facility hasn’t been built in the country in the last 20 years without subsidies.
“That means it’s not going to happen tomorrow; it’s not going to happen two years from now,” she said. “We need to be working towards that, we need to be forward-thinking.”
